Dara Jade Baker, 24, was shot and killed at a home on Cherry Road in Sparta, Tennessee on July 10, 2023. Officers who responded to a 911 call that Monday morning found her deceased inside the residence and recovered a firearm at the scene.

Authorities found 38-year-old Clayton Matthew Watson of Pikeville sitting on the front porch with his eight-year-old son; the child’s mother told officers Watson had just shot and killed Dara and that Watson had told his son he would be going to prison for a long time. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the White County Sheriff’s Office and the 13th Judicial District Attorney General’s Office identified Watson as the person responsible. He was arrested at the scene without incident and charged with one count of first-degree murder, booked into the White County Jail with bond set at $1 million.

Baker was a Van Buren County native and a 2017 graduate of Van Buren County High School. The motive and specific circumstances leading to the shooting have not been made public. If anyone has information about Dara, her movements that morning, or the events at the Cherry Road residence, please share what is known.